


Matter of Time

by NanixErka



Series: Nell and the Company She Keeps [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, BACK ON MY BULLSHIT, Brief mention of blood and gore, Character Study, Dubious Medical Science, Everybody Lives, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Irondad, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Protective Thor (Marvel), Protective Tony Stark, best possible ending, i guess, i mention daredevil for 2 seconds, post avengers: endgame, self indulgent, soft thor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 10:53:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17959130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanixErka/pseuds/NanixErka
Summary: Being even tangentially connected to the Avengers always comes at a price.Nell's payment eventually comes.





	Matter of Time

**Author's Note:**

> Oh look more self indulgent stuff. I regret nothing.

“It's only a matter of time” Natasha had pointed out at the table. 

The other 8 people paused in their conversation, looking over her. 

“What?” Tony’s brow was furrowed- him and Rhodey had been recounting a story about Nell, where the poor nurse had nearly killed herself tripping on the stairs, but caught herself on the railing and just kid of dangled there. Tony was about to show the picture they took of her in that bizarre position before helping her up. 

“Before that nurse actually gets hurt” Natasha finished, sipping on her bubble tea. 

“Are you referencing your first meeting where you nearly used your Widow Bites on her?” Rhodey asked. 

“I mean in general. How long has she been helping out “heroes?”” She rhetorically asked. 

“Where is this coming from?” Tony narrowed his eyes. 

“I’ve been meaning to bring it up, but there's never a good time” she reasoned “I don’t want everyone here acting like it's never going to happen. We all get hurt, no exceptions” 

That last part ruined the entire dinner and she footed the bill. She didn’t mind. Someone had to say it. 

\---

Clint wished she hadn’t.

Steve, Bucky, and Pepper had to team up (Rhodes was out) to convince Tony to not make Nell some sort of “emergency suit” and talked him down to making her a hand gauntlet. 

( _“She’s already wearing the StarkWatch, Tony. You know her vitals at all times. We all do”_

_“But is it enough?”_

_“She’s not a hero, honey. She’s going to be fine”_

_“You can’t get overprotective. You know it never ends well”_ ) 

Clint sighed deeply at the scene, texting Natasha that she’d “Activated the IronDad” 

Her only response had been “Good” 

\-- 

Peter had been the one most uncomfortable with Natasha’s statement. Mostly because, Nell _had_ been hurt

When the Hand had kidnapped her, and tried to use her ties to Helen Cho to get information. 

Peter and Daph (Nell’s slightly overzealous and very very high energy Best friend) had recruited Daredevil and a new “friend” named Rye to assist in getting her back. She’d been roughed up, but mostly fine,and spent a week off from work for “Personal Reasons” to recuperate. They’d never talked about it with the other Avengers- mostly because it had taken place before the hellish bout of the Infinity War and was deemed mostly irrelevant. Peter was pretty sure not even Tony was fully aware of what had transpired that fateful November evening. 

All he remembered was their hug- where she’d held him tightly sobbing about how she was so relieved that the Hand had been lying - that he was alive and safe. 

He couldn’t even try to process how he might react if she’d actually gotten seriously hurt. 

\---

Thor, for his part, was vaguely pissed at Natasha for that, though he could understand where she was coming from. Preparing for the worst was her style. 

“I do not appreciate your implication that I cannot protect my partner” He’s said to her in the workout room, spotting her weight lifting 

“That's not what I said and you know it” she quipped “I said that she’s gonna get hurt - whether on accident or on purpose, whether you’re there or not” 

Thor huffed, “Why did you say that, though” 

“I’ve noticed this trend where we all think that our friends and family can’t get hurt. It’s a thought process that needs to end” She pointed out, putting her weights down 

Thor simply rolled his eyes “Everyone gets hurt, Natasha, and no one is invincible or above harm. Nell is well aware of this.” he explained “Remind me to tell you about the… Hand… situation sometime. It is unpleasant but it is a story that needs to be told.” 

Natasha raised a brow but didn’t ask for any elaboration. And that was for the best. Thor still got pissed whenever he had to retell that tale, and recalling her sleepless nights and how they’d both lashed out at each other over the stress was not a fun memory to recall. The fact he hadn’t actually been there for the ordeal only made the feeling worse.   
\--

In the end, it happened in all but a couple of moments. 

She’d been out with Thor, Peter, and Pepper, and no one but Peter had seen it coming. 

A shrapnel bomb. Of course it had been a shrapnel bomb. 

Peter had heard the ticking, he’d felt the danger, but while they’d had time for Thor to use his lightning magic to reflect the shrapnel, the force had knocked them all back

And then the real chaos started 

Thor’s eyes scanned re group for injuries- and while they’d all fallen to the ground, everyone was getting up and looked coherent. Peter and him made eye contact and the boy yelled through the chaotic street “They’re coming!!” 

“They?” 

Thor followed the others line of sight-

Aliens

Of course 

Stormbreaker appeared in a flash of lightning, gripped tightly in the gods hand and aimed at the rather human-looking extraterrestrials

He has no desire to speak to them for ruining his pleasant afternoon. 

And so the fight started. It had taken another minute before Spider-Man joined the fray, and another before Pepper - her “RESCUE” suit deployed- also lent a hand (or a gauntlet, more specifically). All of three of them were overkill, really. These aliens had attempted a surprise attack and failed spectacularly. 

They hadn’t even considered Nell in the midst of it

Hell, Thor had assumed that she’d run and hid, or was helping anyone who’d been injured- which was her style really. As the most well known member of the Avengers medical team outside of Doctor Cho, she had a reputation to uphold.

It wasn’t until he’d stopped fighting that he realized he hadn’t seen her since the frenzy started. He looked over to Pepper, whose suit had retracted back into its casing, before hearing the very distinct sound of a repulsor firing. Before could even look he heard Peter’s choked shout 

“Nell!” 

Pepper and Thor looked over and stared as Peter removed the corpse of one of the aliens off of Nell, a huge hole in its chest from the repulsor blast, and pulling the nurse into an upright position as she hissed 

Her lovely lavender sweater was bursting with crimson, a rip in its side revealing a jagged, crooked wound. Thor wasn’t even sure how he got to her side, hearing her cursing as to keep from outright bawling at what had to be a harsh pain. 

“Fuck, fuckin- god oh-my god ah-“ She kept mumbling profanities, with Spider-Man doing his absolute best to also keep his cool as Thor swiftly lifted her, causing Nell to yelp pathetically. 

“Annabella-Nell look at me” Thor practically ordered, feeling his blood pressure rise

“Do-don’t make me -please - ah, fuck- fuck” She devolved into whimpers. She was going to start crying soon. 

Thor looked up, they were right outside the tower 

“What floor is medical?” He asked Pepper 

“36! Left side!” Peter beat her to it 

“I will repair the window” was all the god said before he took off with little fanfare 

There was a slight commotion at the broken window, but Nell was taken on a gurney to the ER to clean and stitch and all of the necessary medical stuff. Thor didn’t take too long to stare at her blood on his clothes, but he did in fact get rid of every single article of clothing he’d been wearing while Nell was getting treated and changed 

By the time all was said and done the doctors said she had a minor concussion and that the wound was unfortunately worse than it had looked- Cho however, interjected that she was having the cradle in the compound set up for use and that she’d be transported as soon as she was conscious, and consenting. 

Over the next 6 hours and change, everyone took the news that she was hurt…. Poorly

Tony was not a hysterical man. Wasn’t really his style. But the vaguely manic look about him was reminiscent of every other time someone he loved had gotten hurt. Thought there was a small beam of pride in the fact that his gauntlet came in handy. 

Peter, for his part, was a ball of indescribable emotion who seemed seconds away from either bawling his eyes out or a complete emotional shutdown. The teen hated to cry, he avoided it like a plague, but the fear that had gripped him when Nell had been hurt was harsh in all the worst ways. 

The others- though not as close to Nell, all held their own concerns and worries. Hell, even newly reformed Loki was showing concern at her state, 

Thor was not leaving her side- should that give any indication of how he was taking it. They’d put her under because the pain had been so bad, and he’d told himself that he’d be there when she woke up. No nurse or doctor even attempted to tell him otherwise. 

Sometimes he was joined by Peter and May in those 6-8 hours, and other Avengers filtered in and out (a notable stop was Rhodey, who came by with her iphone that she’d left in the tower before they’d gone out). Daph and her other friend, Rye, also came by, but neither could stay as long as they liked. 

And so, he was alone when she woke up. 

He didn’t even notice when she’d awoken, staring at the hand he was holding, thumb brushing her knuckles. 

“... Soft?” 

His head snapped up

She was smiling at him, thank the all-fathers above, she was smiling. 

“Welcome back” he muttered quietly. “How do you feel?” 

“Woozy” she answered, though her speech wasn’t slurred. He figured that these human medicines would do better than leaving her tired, but perhaps he’d expected too much 

He made a mental note to see if any Asgardian horticulturists had any herbs they could give. Human medicine would certainly be revolutionized. 

“That is certainly better than how you were previously” he commented weakly “You are going to be taken to the compound once the doctors have approval to move you. Doctor Cho says that the cradle is ready” 

“The cradle?” Her brow furrowed “Was it that bad?”

“One of the doctors said that the alien near ripped you in half” Thor explained 

“... Yikes” 

Thor let out a scoff that might have been mistaken for a laugh “You are very lucky you didn’t bleed out in my arms, Nell” 

“Lucky had nothing to do with it” She shifted her hand to hold his, squeezing just slightly “I was with earth's mightiest heroes” 

Thor gently lifts her hand, to kiss the back of it “Are you hungry?” 

“I don’t really feel it but, probably” she shrugged just a tad 

“I will return with something light for you. Yogurt?” 

“Vanilla?” 

“As you wish” Thor smiled almost coyly. She raised an eyebrow

“Is that a Princess Bride reference?” She was grinning - thank the all fathers

“Perhaps” he teased, getting up and letting go of her hand 

And so she was alone for a few moments. 

She spent that time taking stock of her situation, and thinking over her near-death experience. There was a dazed look on her features when she suddenly heard a knock. 

“What’s up, Buttercup?” 

She looked over, seeing a very tired Tony Stark leaning against the door frame.

“Hey there” She smiled gently at him “I'm just waiting for Thor. Said he’d get me yogurt” 

“Vanilla?” 

“Always” she chuckled 

“Not always. You like orange cream” He pointed out, coming further in the room. 

“That I do” 

There was a solid 45 seconds of rather uncomfortable silence after that non-starter of a conversation. 

“... I’m happy you’re alive, Nell” Tony awkwardly announced. Nell couldn’t help the awkward smile 

“Heh, thank you.. Me too” She raised one hand, making a “get over here and hold my hand you emotionally constipated moron” motion by opening and closing it a couple of times. He took the hint and walked over, sitting on the bedside and grabbing the hand. 

“You almost died” 

“I am well aware of that, Tony, thanks” She remarked, unimpressed with his observation. 

“Nell” 

She knew that tone, and frowned “.. I really scared you there, didn’t I?” 

“Of course you did. You’re the nurse. You’re supposed to be _safe_ ” 

“.. None of us are “safe”, Tony. Not me, not you, not anyone. We can only try” She explained to him, quietly. 

There was another lull before Thor entered with the yogurt. 

“Ah, there you are Tony” Thor said with a lightness to his tone. 

Nell managed a smile “Vanilla?” 

“Of course, darling” Thor smiled gently, coming up to her and offering the food with a kiss to her temple. She shut her eyes for a moment. 

“Oh uh, I had Friday activate the “Final Prayer” protocol” Tony voiced, causing Nell to stare at him with an almost upset expression. 

“And…?” 

Tony just took in a breath. 

The silence was more than enough for Nell. 

Her eyes got a little misty as she looked down at her little cup of vanilla yogurt 

“.. No one..? Really?” 

Tony's hand covered one of hers “Fuck ‘em, Nell. Just… don’t worry about it.” 

She sniffed a bit, Thor sitting at her other side and pulling her to him “Tony, could you turn on the television? Its almost 7” 

“Jeopardy , got it” he stood up, going over to the lovely flat screen and tapping it on 

The volume was on pretty loud, but nobody said anything. Thor adjusted so he was laying beside her, her head pushed into the juncture of his shoulder. Tony took a moment to ponder his next move before coming over

“I’ve gotta leave to take care of stuff, but I can stick around till Fresh off the Boat comes on” 

Nell looked over at him, her eyes a bit glassy “Get comfy then” 

He looked to Thor, who just nodded his approval before settling himself on the other side of the ridiculously large hospital bed. 

And if Nell cried a little while watching the shows, neither of them made much of a fuss about it. 

Several hours later, when the TV shows turned from prime time to infomercial, Nell finally spoke

“... God, I'm such a shitty person” 

Thor raised a speculative brow “Did we not discuss that self deprecation is not allowed?” 

“Its not deprecating if its true” She responded, turning her head slightly to look at him “I cut off all contact with my family and have the gall to think they’ll show up. That's selfish” 

“... Maybe it would be” Thor conceded “If you had not rushed back to Jersey when your father was in the hospital.” 

There was silence again, Thor placed a kiss to Nell's forehead

“Rest, love. We’re headed to the compound tomorrow.” He muttered quietly “I will be here when you wake” 

That seemed to be convincing enough to get her to close her eyes. He used his free arm to take off her glasses, but didn’t bother turning off the television. The murmur was rather therapeutic

The next day’s transport went off without a hitch and left Thor feeling overwhelmingly relieved. The cradle did it’s job, and Nell was left without even a scar to recall the day by. Thor spent the rest of the day she was on “bed rest” completely enveloping her as his little spoon, trying to get her to smile and laugh so that the tired look in her eyes would alleviate, if only slightly

Daph made a concerted effort to visit despite the distance, and though Thor occasionally found them… tedious, he couldn’t deny the positive effect that the eccentric man had on Nell’s mood. He relayed a rather fantastical story of their mutual friend Rye’s run in with the police, and how Daph had to cash in a favor with Daredevil to get him out of prison. 

Nell warned him not to use those too liberally. Daph agreed. 

The next day she was cleared to go home. 

Stark and Thor both tried to convince her to take it easy, but begrudgingly accepted that the poor woman just wanted her “normal” back and got her home before the day was over.

As much as he wanted to stay, he was overdue in Norway, and bid her farewell, promising to be back in a few days to check up on her. 

About 4 days later the god made his way to the apartment, letting himself in and being greeted by the sight of Nell trying and failing to bake what looked like puff pastry. She looked up at him as he shut the door and greeted him with a smile. 

His shoulders relaxed at the display.

“Save any for me?” He asked as he approached

“Only if you like it burnt” 

“I like everything you have ever made, Nell” 

And she laughed. 

That was when he knew, truly and without doubt

That she was going to be perfectly, wonderfully, and _completely fine._

**Author's Note:**

> heyyy come bug me over at doodleimprovement on tumblr!


End file.
